Trial begins for accused killer of athlete Jose Gurley

Wednesday

Feb 26, 2014 at 5:58 PMFeb 27, 2014 at 12:50 AM

Jose Gurley of Brockton was trying to break up a fight over a woman outside a house party in 2007 when gunfire struck and killed the 17-year-old high school football star, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.

Staff Reporter

BROCKTON – Jose Gurley was trying to break up a fight over a woman outside a house party in 2007 when gunfire struck and killed the 17-year-old high school football star, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.

Two bullets struck Gurley, a star athlete who led his West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School football team to Super Bowl victory in 2006, Assistant District Attorney Christine Kiggen said as the trial for his accused killer began in Brockton Superior Court.

“One bullet blew a hole in his back, perforated his spinal chord, and lodged in his stomach,” Kiggen told the court as she held up a photograph that showed the slain teen smiling. “The second bullet ripped through his forearm and exited out the other side.”

Officers found Gurley lying on his back in the middle of the street; his friend, Ron Woods, was cradling Gurley’s head in his arms, Kiggen said. An autopsy found Gurley died of a gunshot wound to the torso.

Gurley was shot and killed outside a house party that was dispersing at Roosevelt Heights, a city-owned, affordable-housing complex on Arthur Paquin Way on Brockton’s north side, on July 21, 2007.

Around 3 a.m. that morning, Brewer, dressed in all black and wearing a black baseball hat, walked to the scene of the shooting, raised his right arm and fired three to four shots toward Gurley, then jumped in the back of a black Honda Accord, which fled the parking lot, Kiggen told the court.

“Andre Brewer shot and killed Jose deliberately, intentionally and with malice. We will prove that the killing was committed with extreme atrocity and cruelty,” Kiggen said.

Defense attorney Frank Spillane argued that another man shot Gurley, and that witnesses colluded to frame Brewer for the murder.

“This man had nothing to do with it,” Spillane told the court while pointing to Brewer.

Spillane told the court that two other men, Matthew Engram and Elijah Finch, were at the shooting scene and were fighting over a woman. A large crowd had gathered to watch the two men argue outside, and minutes later gunfire erupted and Gurley was shot, Spillane said.

Spillane told the court that Engram or Finch shot Gurley.

In July 2007, police arrested Engram on a charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder in Gurley’s slaying, but the charge was dropped on Jan. 11, 2008, according to the court. Court documents involving Engram have been impounded.

Spillane said two witnesses, Woods and another man, Kashin Nembhard, colluded to identify Brewer as the shooter. Woods identified Brewer as the shooter to police after Nembhard met with Woods to show him a photo of Brewer, Spillane said.

Brewer has been held without bail at the Plymouth jail since his 2011 arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, unlawfully possessing a firearm, unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm and unlawfully possessing ammunition.

The teen’s murder sparked vigils and anti-violence marches across the city and garnered national media attention.

The case was featured on “America’s Most Wanted,” a national investigative crime show on the Fox television network, as authorities searched for Gurley’s killer.

Nearly four years after the murder, federal, state and local authorities arrested Brewer on a warrant in New Bedford on March 8, 2011. He was arraigned on the charges in Brockton Superior Court on June 29, 2011, after a June 3, 2011 indictment.

Prosecutors said the break in the case came in November 2010 when two witnesses came forward and identified Brewer as the shooter.

Gurley was a Brockton resident who was attending West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School on the school choice program and was planning to attend college.

“He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Kiggen said.

Maria Papadopoulos may be reached at mpapa@enterprisenews.com or follow on Twitter @MariaP_ENT.

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